Learn from the Past!

3rd Sunday in Lent, 3/3/13
1 Corinthians 10:1-13


Learn from the Past!
I. Don’t take God’s grace for granted.
II. Avoid flirting with evil.
III. Trust your faithful God.


Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. All of us would like to think we’re wise enough to learn from our mistakes. We won’t do that again. We won’t let that happen again. To do so would be foolish.

But are we wise enough to learn from the mistakes of others? Someone once said, “If you don’t learn from history’s mistakes, you’re bound to repeat them.” Those words are full of truth. But it happens all the time. Solid statistics bear the results. If you engage in this type of behavior, here’s what happens, here are the percentages. But people don’t listen. They don’t learn. They do it anyway and they end up paying the price.

That’s bad enough when it comes to a risky investment or a shady business deal. But it causes eternal problems—no, make that eternal disasters—when it comes to spiritual matters. From cover to cover the Bible contains the history of what happens when sinful people ignore what the holy God declares. It’s the height of foolishness, but it happens, daily, in spite of God’s serious warnings.

The Apostle Paul saw it happening among the Christians in ancient Corinth. And it’s still happening today. Let’s not be foolish. Learn from the past! May the Holy Spirit enlighten us and fill us with his wisdom through his words this morning.

Part I.

We hear about amazing events every day. Hearing about them is one thing. Actually living them is another. This past week we heard about an explosion that damaged a hot air balloon in Egypt. It fell 1000 feet. All but 2 people aboard died. I can’t imagine falling 1000 feet. Hearing about it is one thing. Living through it is entirely another.

Paul begins our text by reminding us of some amazing things that the Israelites lived through. These weren’t accidents or random events however. They were powerful acts of God’s daily grace toward them. Paul writes, “For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.” Paul writes some things that are difficult to understand. Let’s take a closer look.

He speaks about being baptized in the cloud and the sea. What’s he talking about? Recall how the Lord caused the waters of the Red Sea to part and he allowed the Israelites to pass through the sea. This was a powerful act of God’s grace. In doing so he saved his people from the Egyptian army and spared their lives. Likewise with the cloud. The Lord used this miraculous cloud to guide and protect his people. It was a powerful act of his grace. And, in doing so, he caused these people to follow Moses, his chosen representative.

Paul then moves on to other well-known acts of God’s power. He fed the Israelites manna for 40 years. More than once he miraculously provided water for them from a rock. As they enjoyed the benefits of these miracles, God moved them to place their trust in him to provide for them. He was moving them to trust him not just for rescue from the Egyptians and the harsh desert elements, but also for their salvation, for rescue from hell’s punishment.

That’s why Paul refers to the rock called Christ. God’s master plan for his people was to bring the Savior into the world through them. That Savior, the Son of God, was active in their lives on a daily basis in protecting them and providing for them. On a daily basis he wanted them also to look to him for their salvation.

But listen to Paul’s sad comment on so many of them, “Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.” They didn’t all die in unbelief, but countless thousands did. The adults who were led out of Egypt never saw the Promised Land and it was their own fault. God’s daily powerful expressions of grace had been wasted.

Learn from the past!

I don’t have any “miracles” to impress you with this morning. No parting of waters or clouds of glory. No miracles involving food or water. Just the miracle of God’s grace in word and sacrament. And I do mean miracle. Just as God did with the Israelites, so he does with us. He showers his grace on us daily through his word and each time a person is baptized or receives the Lord’s Supper. But is your reaction at times, “Oh, so what? I’m not interested in his grace today. I have better things to do”? If so, learn from the past! Bring your ungrateful and un-amazed heart to the Lord in repentance and then hear his gracious promise and assurance of forgiveness, a forgiveness which Christ, the Rock, won for us when he took our sins and our place on Calvary’s cross. Learn from the past!

Part II.

In spite of our daily dismay at the expressions of evil in our world, there really is nothing new under the sun when it comes to evil. Believe it or not, the sins announced in modern headlines can be found on the pages of Holy Scripture, everything from the murder of children to gross acts of immorality.

And those acts weren’t limited to people such as the men of Sodom. Evil was rampant among God’s own people. Paul helps us remember them with these words, “Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: ‘The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.’ We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.”

Paul recalls the worship of the golden calf, a calf that Aaron called by the name “Lord”—the very God who had strongly forbidden them to make any image and worship it. Worse yet, this idol worship included immoral acts, just like heathen people committed. Paul also refers to another incident in which the people of Moab invited the Israelites to participate in worshipping their false god with acts of immorality and thousands of Israelites accepted the invitation, to their own destruction. More than 23,000 died. And then there were the “lesser” outbreaks of evil such as the grumbling against the leadership of Moses and against the Lord. So the Lord sent an angel in one case and snakes in another to put thousands of them to death. Only then did the evil stop.

Now, why would Paul recall these events for the Christians in Corinth? Undoubtedly because the same temptations were present in Corinth. We know what an immoral city it was. We know that the Christians there were tempted to think they could flirt with immorality and not harm their relationship with Jesus. We know they had issues with the leaders in their congregation just as the Israelites did with Moses. They were tempted to grumble and complain. Evil was rampant among them.

Nothing has changed since then, has it? Evil is rampant now. In fact, so rampant that we become calloused to it, even accept it. Learn from the past! Recognize evil when you see it. It silently enters your very own homes via TV and computer screens and cell phone displays. Consider how much of what you see and hear is evil in the ears and eyes of God. It’s not just an alternative way of thinking. It’s sin. And then there are the “lesser” sins in our lives as well. We’re discontented. We think we have it so difficult. We demand the right to complain, even to God. But what’s so bad about that? It’s an affront to God’s providence and care. It’s void of trust in him. It’s the opposite of praising him. Learn from the past! Don’t flirt with evil. Confess it. Turn it off and turn away from it. And receive the comfort and assurance of forgiveness which Christ, the Rock, won for you. He never succumbed to evil. He paid for every evil act, word and thought.

Part III.

The Christian life has often been viewed as walking on a path to heaven. It’s a narrow path as Jesus said. Satan abhors our walk on it. So he strives all day every day to push us to one side or the other. On one side is sinful pride. On the other is damning doubt and despair.

Paul dealt with both in the closing words of our text. First, sinful pride, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” If you don’t feel the need to stay close to Christ through his word and sacrament, be careful! You’re an easy target for Satan and he will soon bring you down.

But here’s the solution to the other extreme—damning doubt and despair, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” In spite of how you feel, you’re not the only one who has it so bad. Other Christians have experienced the same thing; some even worse. God always has a plan for you and he always carries it out. He comforts and strengthens us through his word. He is faithful. Absolutely faithful. That means we can trust him in every difficulty of life. Learn from the past! What a gracious, loving God we have. He didn’t even spare his own Son for us! Trust your faithful God! Amen.

Our Citizenship Is in Heaven!

2nd Sunday in Lent, 2/24/13
Philippians 3:17-4:1


Our Citizenship Is in Heaven!
I. That’s our guide for living now.
II. That’s our confidence of glory forever.


They’re called life’s three big questions. I’m sure you’ve heard them before: Who am I? What am I doing here? Where am I going? I’m sure there are countless people who spend their lives asking those questions throughout their lives. It must be frustrating to be unable to answer them. It must be confusing to answer them differently as the circumstances of life change.

I’m sure secular therapists spend a good deal of their clinical time helping clients find answers to those questions. Imagine the amount of money spent.

Who am I? What am I doing here? Where am I going? By the grace of God through the powerful working of the Holy Spirit, you and I know the answers. Who am I? A child of God by faith in Jesus. What am I doing here? I’m here to serve my Savior, Jesus. Where am I going? I’m going to heaven to live with Jesus.

In this morning’s sermon text, Paul answers all three questions with essentially one word. That word is “citizen.” He says it like this, “But our citizenship is in heaven.” That’s who we are. That’s what we’re doing here. That’s where we’re going. As our worship theme reminds us, sadly, there are those who reject our Savior and his sacrifice for sin. But by God’s grace, that’s not what we have done. By God’s grace, we’re citizens of heaven. Our citizenship is in heaven. Let’s receive Paul’s words of encouragement and confidence as our Lord assures us of that citizenship this morning.

Part I.

Citizenship. That word implies both benefits and obligations. Being a citizen means you enjoy the rights and privileges it brings, but it also means there are certain expectations. Every society in history has formally or informally codified a set of laws or rules by which it abides. Those laws or rules benefit the citizens or members of the society. Things go better for the group when the members abide by the laws or rules. Things tend to get ugly when they don’t. Responsible citizens live like citizens.

While Paul wrote these words specifically for the Christians in the congregation at Philippi, they were meant for all Christians of all time. And this was his encouragement, “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.” Did we hear that correctly? Did Paul just point to himself as an example of living like a citizen of heaven? Indeed he did. But isn’t that sinfully egotistical? Not at all. If you read the previous verses of chapter three, you’ll see that, for Paul, it was all about Jesus. Paul considered everything he had accomplished in life as rubbish. He just wanted to get closer to Jesus every day of his life.

So what Paul was really doing was pointing these people to Christ. He wanted them to imitate Christ. We might put it in one word, to be Christ-like. Well, what does that mean? We can’t be perfect, obviously, as Jesus was perfect, but we can strive to live like he did. Help me describe that. What words come to mind?

One of them is love. Jesus loved all people, even his enemies and those who wished to do him harm. He loved the outcasts and the openly sinful. He loved all people enough to die for all people.

What else comes to mind? He was humble. Paul described that humility in a previous section of this letter. Jesus possessed all power and wisdom and glory from all eternity as the Son of God. But he let it go and humbled himself and became a human being, just like us. And then he humbled himself all the way to death on the cross.

Another description of the life of Christ is that he was caring. As busy as he was, carrying out the most important work in all of history—that work being our salvation—he was never too busy to care for others. He healed the sick and the blind. He showed compassion to those who suffered the death of loved ones. He fed the hungry and freed the demon-possessed. When Paul encourages us to live like citizens of heaven, these are the things he has in mind.

But Paul also has a warning as we live like such citizens. He writes, “For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.” Wow! Enemies of the cross of Christ?! These must have been some terrible people. Just what makes a person an enemy of the cross of Christ?

Paul describes them. They’re headed for eternal destruction, not life forever with Jesus. There are many roads that lead there. Basically, it’s every other road besides faith in Jesus. Paul also says, “Their god is their stomach.” In other words, they make their life’s goal to get and do whatever makes them feel good. Worse yet, their glory is in their shame. They flaunt the sins they commit as if that was a glorious thing, when in reality it will lead to eternal shame. In short, their mind is on earthly things. They only think of the here and now. They’re obsessed with material things, fame, fortune, happiness in this life.

We know better than that. The fact that we’re here this morning is proof of it. Our citizenship is in heaven. That’s our guide for living now.

More than one elderly member of our congregation has asked me, “Pastor, why doesn’t the Lord just take me home?” They’re not suicidal. They just want to go to heaven. They think about it every day, many times.

But it makes me wonder, “Why don’t we have that outlook sooner?” The truth is, some of us may go days without giving our citizenship in heaven a thought. And why is that? Because we get caught up in living our life in the here and now. We fail to consider that the thing we’re working so hard on at the moment might not matter at all tomorrow because before then, the Lord will call us home to heaven. And when we get so wrapped up in this life, we get dangerously close to fitting this description, “Their mind is on earthly things.” But that’s not so unique. We face that temptation every day and often fall into it. Disappointing, isn’t it? But we have a Savior from sin. When his own disciples deserted him because their minds were on earthly things, he didn’t stop his journey to the cross. He knew that’s how they would respond. He knows that’s our problem too. But he still won our forgiveness and our citizenship in heaven. Love for him powers our living as citizens of heaven. Our citizenship is in heaven. That’s our guide for living now.

Part II.

It’s not easy avoiding a focus on this life to the exclusion of the life to come. There’s so much out there to attain. And if we don’t work hard, it can all be taken from us. It’s hard to let go and let God. And even when we do, we face daily difficulties and occasional tragedies. So, as we live like citizens of heaven, how do we handle the rough times?

Look to Christ. What should we look for? Paul sums it up in one powerful, glorious sentence, “We eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” What should we do as citizens of heaven facing troubles as we live like citizens of heaven? Look to Jesus who has promised to return. There is a day when Jesus will set everything right for us. It’s the Last Day when he will reveal himself before every person who has ever lived on this earth that he is our Savior.

On that day, our chaotic world will come under his awesome power. Not one person will be able to say anything against him. No one will ever challenge him or us again. Satan and his evil angels will be confined to the hell that God prepared for them.

And then the most astounding thing will happen to each one of us. Paul describes it this way, “[He] will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” It’s the truth we grab onto at every Christian funeral—the resurrection and glorification of our bodies. We’ll have bodies that are no longer subject to age or pain or temptation or trouble. Glorified like Christ’s glorified body. Amazing!

And that, citizens of heaven, is our confidence as we strive to live as citizens of heaven. Each day we enter the struggle of living the Christian life in a world that is increasingly against us. And even when we do succeed in living a Christ-like life, we still face trouble and opposition. What gives us hope in such hopeless situations? The confidence of knowing that eternal glory awaits us. We know that heaven is our home.

Our citizenship is in heaven. That’s our confidence of glory forever.

That’s our goal—resurrection to glory forever. And with that as our goal, really nothing else matters. By the grace of God we already know who we are, why we’re here and where we’re going. It’s all set. But we worry. We doubt. We complain. We long for something better. Forgive us, Lord, for failing to trust you, for failing to find our complete satisfaction in you. By his life and death he does forgive us. Not only that, he has also made us citizens of heaven.

May our Lord remind us of that glorious truth each day as we live for him. Amen.